


Warning Signs

by tigerchild



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Black Family, Dark Mark, Death Eater - Freeform, Gen, Good Slytherins, M/M, Original Character - Freeform, Slytherin, Slytherins Being Slytherins, tigerchild, warning signs
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-12
Updated: 2019-01-12
Packaged: 2019-10-08 16:57:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17390150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tigerchild/pseuds/tigerchild
Summary: Theo Black is a death eater, but not by choice. He is the son of Sirius Black, and lives with him at Grimlaund place.   What happens when the Order of  the Phoenix decides to come over for Christmas dinner and Theo's secret is reviled?{ just a short story, there will probably just be a few long chapters }





	1. Part One

"Theo! Come say hello the The Order!" Sirius called up to Theo, who was currently finishing his homework assignment in his bedroom.

"Fine!" Theo called. Was this really necessary? A holiday party in the midst of all of this? Theo delayed for as long as he could, and making sure his wrists were covered completely, he slowly walked down the stairs.

While Theo really did like the adults in the order, he wasn't so fond of their children. It wasn't like he hated Harry, Ron, and Hermione, it's just that they had never really connected.

Theo stood in the doorway of the dining room, watching the dining room full of people who were currently invading his home.

"Hello Theo! How are you these days?" asked Molly Weasley, getting out of he chair to come give Theo a hug. Molly was like a mother to Theo, always checking up on him, and seeing how he was doing.

"I'm good, thank you." Theo replied with a smile, pulling away from the hug.

"Remus!" Molly called into the other room, "Theo's down here!" Molly gave him another smile and sat back down at the table next to Arthur.

"Theo!" Remus called, walking into the room.

"Don't act so excited. I just saw you last week." Theo said as Remus gave him a tight hug.

"But you never know when it will be your last time seeing someone last now a days." Remus whispered in his ear.

Theo sighed. "I suppose you're right."

"Dinner's ready!" Sirius called from the kitchen. Theo made his way into the dining room, which Sirius had decorated extravagantly for Christmas. Red and Green tinsel adorned the ceiling, while a mini Christmas tree decorated the table.

Theo took his normal seat next to the head of the table, where Sirius sat. Harry sat across from him, giving him a smile. And, much to theo's dismay, none other than Ron Weasley sat next to him.

"But Mum, can't I sit next to Harry?"

"Ronald, Harry's sitting next to his godfather, you'll be fine sitting here for one meal ."

"Fine."

Theo laughed, Ron's mum sure knew how to set him straight.

"What are you laughing at you git?"

This caused him to laugh even more, because he was positive Molly would be over here soon.

"Ronald!" Molly said standing up and snatching Ron's ear, leading him into the other room. Theo was positive the yelling could be heard from all parts of the house. The whole table tried to cover up the noise, starting conversations, but the yelling was still able to be heard.

After quite some time, Ron walked back into the dining room, massaging his ear.

"I really don't know what your problem with Theo is, I think he's a pretty cool lad." George said, walking by and flicking Theo's ear.

Theo and the twins had gotten pretty close over the summer that they had been there. They defended Theo against Ron quite often. It wasn't as if Theo couldn't defend himself, he just didn't have it in him. Theo had never been a fighter, and the twins understood that.

"Let's say prayers." Sirius announced, reaching for Theo and Harry's hands. George had switched places with Ron, much to Theo's relief. Theo pulled down the sleeve on his left arm, and reached for George's hand. He took it without hesitation, and Siruis began the prayer.

"Dear Lord, thank you for the food that we have, and the friends and family we have around us tonight. Amen." Sirius finished, And with a wave of a wand, the whole table was covered in food. Everyone began to gather food on their plate and eat. All Theo put on his plate was a roll. He wasn't hungry, not really. He had eaten a large lunch because he knew he would not be able to eat with everyone here. Theo suffered from severe social anxiety, which led to him having panic attacks quite often. He always felt like everyone was judging him. Only Sirius, Remus, and the twins knew about this, because they were the only people that Theo could trust. Theo started to have trouble breathing. They were watching him. They saw his dark mark during the prayer. Theo's breaths got shorter and shorter.

"Look around you Theo," George whispered to him, noticing his shortage of breath, "no one is watching you. They're all involved in their own conversations." He tried to reassure him. Theo knew that there was no point in trying, it was almost impossible for him to calm down once they had started.

Theo stood up, scraping his chair against the floor, causing everyone to stop their conversations. Sirius and Remus looked up at him, checking that he was okay.

"Be right back." Theo managed to whisper, exiting the room to enter the living room. Theo leaned against the wall, letting his body slide slowly down to the floor. Usually, when he got panic attacks, he was supposed to stand up, and open up his airways, but this was what felt better. He curled into as tight of a ball as he could, willing himself to not exist. Theo's head fell into his hands. Why him? Why did he have to be forced to be a death eater? Why couldn't he get rid of the mark?

George walked into the room, interrupting his thoughts, and sat down next to him.

"You going to be alright?" He asked, looking at him with intent. By now, Theo's breathing had returned to an almost normal state. Theo simply nodded, knowing he wouldn't be able to speak just yet. George waited with Theo, until his breathing had returned to normal.

"T-t-theo?" George spoke.

"Hm?"

"W-what's that on your arm."

It took Theo a couple of seconds before he truly realized what George had just said. 

"Shit! Shit! Please don't hate me." Theo choked, breaking into tears and standing up, getting away from George. "It wasn't my fault, I was forced to. I didn't-I didn't have a choice." Theo pounded his fists against the wall, leaning his forehead against it.

George didn't reply. Theo assumed he had left, probably to tell all the others. George, surprising Theo, finally replied.

"You don't have anything to be ashamed of. I've-I've read many instances in the newspapers where kids have been forced to become death eaters..."

George walked up to Theo, turning him around and giving him a tight hug. Theo sobbed into his chest.

"You're the first person to find out." He managed.

"And I wont look at you any differently." George simply replied. After the tears had subsided, George pulled away, looking into Theo's eyes.

"You should probably tell your father, at least. I won't do it for you, but I think that it's best if he knows."

Theo simply nodded, of coarse he should tell his father.

"C-can I see it?"

Theo sighed, of coarse he would want to see it. He pulled up his sleeve and held it out to George.

George gasped, seeing the many white marks on either side of the dark mark.

"Why?" George choked out.

"Those are from the times when I've tried to get rid of it, but the mark heals itself."

"Are t-those burn marks too?"

"Yes. I've tried everything, it's impossible to get rid of." Theo said stepping away and pulling back down his shirt sleeve."We should probably get back to the dinning room." Theo and George made their way into the dinning room, where the volume was booming. No one noticed them except for Sirius.

"You okay?" Sirius asked as Theo sat down. Theo nodded, and continued to play with his food.

George took Theo's hand under the table, catching his eye and nodding with a smile.


	2. part two

"Time for presents!" Molly called out after everyone had finished eating.

"Sirius could I talk to you for a moment?" Theo quietly asked Sirius.

"Of course." Theo led Sirius into the guest room.

"Sirius, I have something important to tell you that I've been hiding for a long time." Theo took a deep breath.

"In third year I was-"

"-Forced to become a death eater."

"W-what? How do you know?"

"I only found out recently, or else you know I would have done something. I'm sorry I wasn't there for you to tell me" Sirius replied, putting his arm around Theo's shoulders.

"I'm very proud of you." Sirius said, looking down at Theo.

Theo looked to his feet. "Why would you be proud of me?"

"Because you never became what they tried to force you to become." Sirius replied with a smile. "Come on, it's time to open presents."

',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',','

"Open ours!" The twins called out, struggling to raise their voices above the booming volume of the room.

Honestly, Theo hated opening presents. Who said that he'd deserved them? He was always sure that the presents he gave wouldn't amount to those that others had given him.

The twins handed him a green wrapped present with silver ribbon tied around it. The twins had done an impressive job, Theo had to admit.

It was an ongoing tradition to wrap presents according to the colors of your house at Grimlaund place. Amidst the sea of red and gold, there were only a couple green and yellow wrapped ones that stood out.

Theo carefully undid the ribbon, and untapped the edges of the wrapping paper. He liked to save it, use it to make little birds or whatever else came to mind. The rest of Grimlaund place obviously didn't feel the same way.

"Come on! Hurry up! We don't have all day!" Remus called out jokingly. Theo smiled and took off the rest of the paper, revealing a plain white long box. Theo undid the corners of the box and slowly opened it. He couldn't believe it. It was a Firebolt!

"G-guys, I really can't accept it. This is way too much."

"Eh, don't sweat it. We've made serious spending money from our store." Fred said with a smile.

"Wow. Thanks so much guys, but now you know that Slytherin is definitely going to win all of our quiditch matches once we get back from break."

"Over my dead body!" Harry jokingly exclaimed from the other side of the table.

The room was filled with laughter, and joking replies of "Harry's right" "Boo!" and "Don't bet on it Black." Theo laughed along with them, forgetting momentarily about what had happened earlier that night.


	3. Part three

It was late at night, and Theo was the only one still awake. The rest of the group had all gone to sleep, retreating to the Weasley's spare bedrooms for the night. Theo sat by himself in the living room, it being dimly lit and warmed by the fireplace that was still blazing.

Theo stared into the flames and thought. Thought about the cursed mark on his arm that would be there forever. Thought of how many people would judge him or hurt him for the mark on his arm that he never chose to get. The mark that there was no use getting rid of...or was there? Maybe just maybe, if the fire poker was extra hot... would it work?

Theo decided that the risk was worth it. After all, if he could disguise the mark then maybe, he could lead a semi-normal life. It was hard for Theo to imagine not wearing long sleeved shorts, even tank tops if he wanted to in the summer!

He slowly walked over to the fireplace, and removed the poker from it's holder, and sat it in the hottest part of the fire. Blue flames licked the end of the rod as Theo imaged his arms being free in the summer. He sat down on the couch nearest to the fireplace, and watched the flames dance against the logs.

After a few minutes, Theo deemed the pole hot enough, and reached for the rod.

"Theo, come on...you know that won't work," Theo jumped as Remus walked in from the kitchen.

Theo quickly pulled down his shirt sleeve and stood up from his seat.

"W-What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean, and you shouldn't worry about that around me" Remus gestured to his arm.

"Worry about what?" Theo hid his hands behind his back.

"Your mark."

"I don't know what you think you know, but you're wrong okay?" Theo said as he began to back up to the door. He needed an escape route, anything, anywhere.

"Theo, everyone here loves you, there's no need to be afraid." Remus took a few steps toward him," Anyone who's gotten to know you knows you'd never do anything like that. This isn't your fault."

Theo turned his back to him and ran his hands through his hair, "You don't have any idea what it's like, having something permanently marked on your body that you never asked for, that doesn't represent you at all,"

"Well, you're right." Remus said with a sigh, "but I think I know someone who might understand what you're going through."

"And who would that be?" Theo snapped, "because as far as I know, I'm the only one in this cursed situation." Theo turned to him with his arms crossed.

Remus raised an eyebrow.

"Well, I'm not so sure how you'll react..."

"Go on then."

Remus took a deep breath "His name's Draco Malfoy."

"That git? That bastard chose to be what he is, and he loves it. How dare you compare me to him!" Theo spat and turned for the door.

"You two are more alike than you or I would care to admit."

"We are nothing alike, and never will be."

"Maybe you need some time to think about it. Get some sleep, we'll talk more in the morning." Remus started towards the stairs, but then stopped and walked into the kitchen. When he came back he was carrying a bowl full of water.

"For your safety." he said and dumped it over the fire.

After he was done, Remus walked up the stairs, and halted at the first walkway.

"Goodnight," he called.

Theo scoffed and laid down on the couch, as Remus continued up the stairs to his room.


End file.
